Led Zeppelin I-IV 2014 remasters considered the best?

I think the reason so many people don't give the Diaments a chance is because you reply have to crank them to appreciate them. At first glance they might seem little less 'in your face' like the Davis discs.

 

I don't mind turning them up though, the remasters hurt my ears, The Diaments allow me to actually hear the instruments. Sounds like the originals. I'm sure in ten years they'll re-release these in a Super Duper Deluxe Box. "Hear them the way the originally sounded!" "Oh, and here's a couple more isolated track songs that we call different mixes!"

 

Who are all these alleged people who don’t give the Diaments a chance?

 

They must be on other forums.

 

I listen to all my original Zeppelin CD. Frequently. But I’ll admit to archiving all the Davis remasters that I borrowed from my public library just to hear the Companion Discs.

 

Archiving?

 

Don’t worry, I returned the CDs to the library.

 

There were plenty of people who passed them off as coming from high gen tapes and generally sounding inferior to the remasters. Jimmy Page included.

 

I have the small cd sized book on Led Zep albums by Dave Lewis (it is a good read) and he too states the early cds ie. prior to the Marino remasters are poor.
Fortunately I kept all mine so I have all 3 versions of the 9 albums on cd. I believe it goes Diament, Marino then Davis in terms of mastering engineers.

 

I don't know how to quote a post from another thread but Barry Diament himself has gone on record and said with the exception of the last two albums and Zoso all of his CDs were sourced from flat transfer dubs from the master tapes.

 

He said he thought that was the case, but he wasn't sure.

Other evidence points to at least some of the tapes having been masters.

 

I believe it’s album-by-album in terms of the mastering (or at least the sonic result).

 

I know Houses was the big one in terms of this finding, but what were the other Diaments where the masters might have been used? I'm just curious because I haven't caught up with some of the more recent Zep CD discussions.

 

Nothing definitive that I'm aware of one way or another at this point, just recollections of those who had access to the tapes.

I still need to look into Physical Graffiti. Other comparisons have suggested that the Diament and the Davis share a source, while the Marino used a different source.

 

That I believe - is the correct answer. Recall the 80s, when there was no internet. You reached a consensus on how something sounded via magazines or a worker in a record store. The Zep cd's were typically maligned back then, including (as you noted) Jimmy Page himself. Plant even jumped on the band wagon in a printed interview (I want to say it was Kerrang circa 1988.) He said something along the lines of "Graffiti was hot, but "symbols" not so good and In Through The Out Door was abominable."

I recall getting them home and saying to myself - these really don't sound that bad!

Like many of you - "best digital version" is a case by case basis. Sometimes 80s, sometimes Marino and sometimes Davis.

 

I go back and forth myself, the newest Davis versions have most clarity but lose some feel and vibe or something.
Zep 1 I like the marino cd the best.. Zep 3 i like the diament best... Zep 2 I can't make up my mind I just listen to a different mastering every time and still cannot come to a conclusion. Including RL needle drops.

In the end I don't care that much it's nice to have choices and compare IMO

 

There are some pretty great needledrops out there, especially of the 45 rpm box set.

 

Probably a better question a different thread but does anybody have an opinion on the Dr. Ebbets vinyl rips of the first four LPs?

 

In an ideal world...

 

My view is that the Ebbets rips have long since been surpassed by others, notably (but not only) pbthal's.

Yes, that would be epic. Of all the Zep albums, IV is the one whose mastering I'm most dissatisfied with - never have found a version that I really love.

 

You haven't heard my rips of various Zep vinyl (Classic Records, Zep II - RL, Houses - RL, etc.). Those are the only way I listen to Zeppelin in the digital realm.

 

If you'd be interested in sharing samples, I'm all ears. But I've got plenty of great vinyl Zep rips, including the II RL, the Houses Porky (which I prefer to the Houses RL), the Classic 45rpm Presence, and many others. And I've heard, and have, excellent rips of Zep IV, including the Classic, Classic 45rpm, original US Monarch, and original UK Porky. Some of them are very good. But for me, there still isn't one single mastering or rip of Zep IV that's a clear go-to for me. For all the other Zep albums I have one (or in a few cases two) mastering that's my favorite and that I feel totally content with.

I'm sure it's probably just my personal taste, and I'm pretty sure it's also to do with niggles I have with the original mixing and engineering of the various tracks. For example, I've found that if think a mastering or rip just nails the clarity in Black Dog and Stairway, I'm often disappointed in the level of bass impact in Levee; and vice versa. Someday I'll cobble together my own patchwork version of the album from various rips and masterings.

 

Yeah honestly it is hard to find a "definitive" issuing of the albums with each song being at the best that it has ever sounded.

For me though, at least with a combination of the best of the Diament CDs and the best of the Davis remasters, they provide a consistent and unified listening experience that I am satisfied with overall!

 

Sounds like you've got it covered. I agree with you on all fronts. Some songs sound better on some masterings while others don't. On the Classic Records Physical Graffiti, for example, Kashmir and The Wanton Song could be better, so I threw some EQ on just those two tracks so they match the rest of the album better. The Rover is great on that one, though.

 

I don't know about anybody else but I think the Classic Records 45 RPM Led Zep IV in digital form and some EQ using Wavepad Sound Editor with 20 bands parametric with the following settings in db: 15,11,8,6,5,4,3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-6,-7,-8. On a good system like mine; 1980 Celestion Ditton 66 studio monitors and a Sansui amp sounds incredible! The rest of the Zep catalogue sounds good on Classic Records 45 rpm as follows: 11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0,-1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-6,-7,-8.